Was Descartes an Individualist? A Critical Discussion of W. Ferraiolo's "Individualism and Descartes"

Moya, Carlos J. (1997) Was Descartes an Individualist? A Critical Discussion of W. Ferraiolo's "Individualism and Descartes". Teorema, XVI (2). pp. 77-85.

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Abstract

In his paper "Individualism and Descartes," William Ferraiolo puts into question the widely accepted interpretation of Descartes as an individualist about mental content. In this paper, I intend to defend this interpretation of Descartes's thinking against Ferraiolo's objections. I shall hold, firstly, that attributing to Descartes an individualist doctrine is not historically misguided. Secondly, I will try to show that Descartes's endorsement of anti-individualism would lead either to depriving sceptical hypotheses of their force or to rejecting the epistemological privilege of the first person. And, thirdly, I shall try to show that Ferraiolo's objections to the individualistic interpretation rest on two important errors: a misapprehension of the argumentative order of the Mediations and a confusion between the notions of causal and constitutive dependence of content on the external environment.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Epistemology; Individualism; Descartes; Ferraiolo, W.
Subjects: Philosophie > Philosophische Disziplinen > Epistemologie, Wissenschaftstheorie, Naturphilosophie
Philosophie > Philosophische Journale, Kongresse, Vereinigungen > Teorema. Revista internacional de filosofia > Volume XVI (1996/97)
Philosophie > Geschichte der Philosophie > c) Renaissance
Depositing User: Wolfgang Heuer
Date Deposited: 06 Dec 2020 14:06
Last Modified: 06 Dec 2020 14:06
URI: http://sammelpunkt.philo.at/id/eprint/2812

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